Assassin of Curses: (The Coren Hart Chronicles Book 3) Jessie Eaker (best reads txt) 📖

He frowned. “I don’t want to do this, but Troy has got to go to university. It’s his only chance at decent life!” There was desperation in his voice. He reached for his knife.

I heard a scraping step, and hoping it was Fumiko, I glanced behind me. But no such luck. It was the big guy I had left outside. He was holding his knife, and Creator, did he look pissed.

“Abe,” I whispered. “A little help here.”

But he was silent.

Then the three men in front of me and the one behind all rushed me at once.

My body reacted before I had a chance to even think. It felt wrong, but at the same time, it also felt right. My eyes went wide. Fumiko’s skills. It was working!

I wheeled and kicked the man with the club, my leg flying up perfectly and catching him in the chin. He staggered back.

Almost magically, I spun on my heel to the big man coming at me from behind. I dodged his knife and kicked him hard in the side. His mouth made an “oh” of surprise. I punched his abdomen just below his ribs, causing him to double over and fall to his knees.

The unarmed man came at me throwing punches. I easily dodged them and slipped inside his guard, landing an uppercut into his chin. He toppled like a tree.

Eviek lunged at me brandishing his knife. From the way he moved, I could tell he was a brawler, not a fighter. I caught his descending hand and quickly twisted it behind his back. I brought my foot up to his backside and shoved him hard. He staggered and tripped over a bench, falling hard on his face.

Club man came next, swinging crosswise at my head. Of the four, this one seemed to know how to use his weapon. I ducked and leaped back, quickly drawing my sword from its scabbard. We briefly considered each other.

He charged, swinging as he came. I parried and caught the weapon on my sword. As I expected, the blade gouged the club deeply and stuck. As he jerked back, I followed and knocked him off balance. He also staggered back and fell across a bench as I freed my sword.

I smiled. This was much too easy. Fumiko’s skills were unbelievable.

Eviek picked himself up and came at me again with his knife. Almost of its own accord, my sword parried the thrust driving it away. He jabbed again and again, but each time I blocked it. With blind rage in his eyes, he swung downward as hard as he could.

I was immediately reminded of Fumiko’s fight with Jiaying. She had made a similar move.

Seemingly of its own accord, my blade knocked the knife so hard it flew from his hand. And then, just like I had seen in Fumiko’s memory, I wheeled and aimed for the man’s throat. Only unlike Jiaying, the man had no weapon to stop me.

I didn’t want to kill him, but my body refused to yield.

Troy slammed into me, making me stagger.

My body turned on its own and quickly raised to strike the unarmed youth.

“NO!” screamed Cabrina.

Immediately, a wall of brilliant deep purple sprang up between us. It had to be the thickest myst barrier I had ever seen. I struck it. The blade reverberated in my hands like I had hit a stone wall. But I couldn’t stop. I struck it again and again, powerless to halt the blows.

A hand suddenly materialized and grabbed my wrist, halting the motion. “Stop it, Coren!” Fumiko was beside me, wearing an expression of concern. “You’re done.”

I looked at her in horror. What had just happened? I dropped my blade like it was hot. I had nearly killed Troy. If it hadn’t been for the myst shield, I would have struck him.

I looked around at the men lying on the floor and Eviek on his knees holding his injured hand. I had done all this. It was fantastic on one level—but horrific on the other. I had nearly killed them. They weren’t bad people, just desperate. But ending their lives would have come so easily, I would not have noticed.

Troy knelt beside his father. He was looking at me with terror in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I said. I scooped up my sword and numbly followed Fumiko and Cabrina out the door.

As we walked together back toward the inn, Fumiko looked at me. “You should have waited. I told you, you weren’t ready.”

“I’m sorry,” was all I could say. “Thank the Creator you put up that shield. I’m not sure what would have happened if you hadn’t.”

She shook her head. “It wasn’t me.”

My eyes went up in surprise.

From behind us, Cabrina spoke up. “I did it. Or at least the Cabrina inside did.”

We both stopped and turned to her.

Cabrina looked up in surprise, her eyes flitting between the two of us. “What? My host just reacted. She hates using her myst, but she can use it when she wants to. It was either that or have Troy hurt.”

Fumiko and I exchanged a glance. That had been no simple wall. While I knew very little about using myst, I did know that making something that impenetrable took a lot of it. That wall had been thick.

I crossed my arms. “You mean it wasn’t you, No-name?”

She shook her head. “No. That was all Cabrina. While I could use her abilities if I wanted, she’s asked me not to.”

We contemplated her a moment longer. The youth danced from one foot to the other. “Do you mind if we keep going? It’s frigid out here.”

We turned and resumed walking back to the inn. This only deepened the mystery about the Dark Avenyts inside Cabrina. With that much